November 16, 2005
Chocoholics rejoice: Purdy's Chocolates launches Ernex-powered gift card program
Vancouver, November 16, 2005 - Just in time for Christmas shopping chaos, Purdy's Chocolates today announced the launch of an Ernex-powered gift card program that will undoubtedly prove popular with chocoholics young and old this holiday season. Ernex, a division of Moneris Solutions Corporation, is a leading provider of loyalty and gift card programs. Purdy's gift cards give customers the flexibility to load the card with any dollar denomination between $5 and $250. Gift cards can be purchased and redeemed at any of the more than 50 Purdy's Chocolates locations in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.
"We're growing quickly and have aggressive expansion plans for 2006 - it's absolutely the right time to offer our customers electronic gift cards," said Karen Flavelle, President and Owner of Purdy's Chocolates. "We know that our customers love our chocolates, and now they can pass that love on by purchasing the gift cards for friends and family. Purdy's gift card customers will become Purdy's brand ambassadors."
The market for gift cards is exploding. According to a recent Statistics Canada survey 1 comprising 80 of the nation's largest retailers (representing over 11,000 stores), 68% of these stores offered gift cards during the 2004 holiday season, up 15% from the previous year.
"Ahead of the holiday season is a smart and strategic time for merchants like Purdy's to introduce a gift card program," said Malcolm Fowler, Vice President & General Manager of Ernex. "While gift cards are a great idea 12 months of the year, it's no surprise a large portion of gift cards are activated during the holidays. In fact, in the five days leading up to Christmas last year, Canada's legion of last-minute shoppers were responsible for 40% of the total dollar volume activated on Ernex gift cards in the entire month of December."
Purdy's debit and credit transactions are processed using Moneris HiSpeed 3100IP terminals - which will also now be used to activate and process gift cards. The advantage to merchants is the freedom and flexibility of processing all forms of payment with a single point-of-sale terminal while at the same time minimizing clutter and maximizing counter space.
About Purdy's
Made with the finest ingredients from around the world, Purdy's chocolates are a Canadian tradition that
dates back to 1907 and founder Richard Carmon Purdy. From Richard Purdy's first chocolate shop on Vancouver's
famed Robson Street, the company grew steadily while remaining a family-owned business headquartered in
Vancouver. Now, the largest chocolate retailer in Western Canada, with 50 chocolate shops located in B.C.,
Alberta, and Ontario, Purdy's continues its expansion into the Ontario market. Packaged with its distinctly
royal colors of purple and gold, Purdy's boasts an envied reputation for quality, creativity, and innovation.
Its signature product is the legendary Hedgehog, a creamy hazelnut truffle-filled milk chocolate in the
shape of a hedgehog.
About Ernex®
Ernex, a division of Moneris Solutions Corporation, is a provider of innovative real-time marketing solutions
including privately branded and multi-merchant loyalty programs, stored-value gift cards, reward fulfillment
services and loyalty database hosting services. Leading companies in the financial, retail, restaurant and
hospitality industries as well as large membership organizations use Ernex solutions. For more information
please call 877-GO-ERNEX or visit www.ernex.com.
About Moneris Solutions Corporation
Moneris Solutions, together with its wholly-owned U.S. based subsidiary Moneris Solutions, Inc., is one
of North America's largest electronic transaction processors, offering unique card transaction and payment
services for virtually every industry segment that accepts credit and/or debit card payments from its customers.
Moneris delivers advanced payment card processing capabilities through point-of-sale hardware, payment processing
software and e-commerce solutions. The company also provides transaction-processing services for numerous
agent banks and serves the small to medium-sized business market through direct sales and strategic partnerships.
Established in 2000 as a joint investment between the RBC Financial Group and the BMO Financial Group, which
have combined assets of approximately $700 billion, Moneris serves more than 350,000 North American merchant
locations and has a staff of over 1,200 employees. The company has headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. Moneris
Solutions, Inc.'s head office is located near Chicago, IL. For more information, please visit www.moneris.com
or www.monerisusa.com
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For more information, contact:
| Neena Arora Marketing Coordinator Purdy's Chocolates Ltd P: 604 454 2718 neena@purdys.com |
Steve Bestvater Marketing Manager Ernex, a division of Moneris Solutions Corporation P: 604.415.1500 pr@ernex.com |
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